Mike Pinder- In my opinion no one has ever put the Mellotron or Chamberlin to better use,
or used a wider variety of sounds and techniques. His orchestrations made the music work
(which is what orchestrations are supposed to do). The songs are ,more or less, vehicles
for his beautiful mellotron playing. That is what makes the Moody Blues worthwhile and
the only thing that makes them noteworthy in a blog like this. The Moody's "minimal
songs allowed him to use a really big canvas of mellotron sounds. He didn't an intricate
band like Yes or Genesis to try and weave his parts around. Whether you can stomach the
rest of the Moody Blues or not I've got to give contnual credit to Pinder as a master.
--- In newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com, "thinkingalouduk" <owen@...> wrote:
>
> --- In newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com, "David Jacques" <djacques@> wrote:
> > All I can say is that you had to be there, living and growing up in the 60's
> > and 70's, to truly appreciate the Moody Blues' music.
>
> Interesting - as I wasn't born until around the time Seventh Sojourn (the last of the 7)
was
> released. My exposure to the MBs came in the early 1980s - my musical diet at that
point
> was Adam And The Ants, Duran Duran, Depeche Mode and their ilk, along with The
Mamas
> and the Papas and a few other pop bits and pieces from my parents' era. Then along
came
> a Moodies compilation and I couldn't work out how they were making those weird string
> sounds _without_ a string section (I couldn't do it on my Casio, and this was the 1980s).
>
> I've never really listened to classic prog; to my perception, the bits I _have_ heard
usually
> seem to meander on for too long without getting to the point. I guess I like songs
rather
> than epics, and am not particularly bothered about the technical abilities of the players
- if
> the sound that comes out at the end appeals to me, I don't care whether the performer
> can do six chromatic octaves in 10 seconds or whether it was created by a flock of
geese
> pecking at landmines.
>
> It's all just down to personal preference. I like the Moody Blues, others don't. I can live
> with that.
>
> Owen
>